According to the Report, the Commission handled 42,678 complaints out of which 25,501 were resolved representing a resolution rate of 59.8% with delay being the major form of maladministration at 22.60%.On its second mandate of overseeing the enforcement of the access to information law as guaranteed by Article 35 of the Constitution and operationalized by the Access to Information Act, 2016, the Commission received 854 appeals for review since 2012 to 2023 when the ATI was passed and resolved 786 representing a resolution rate of 85%.
While giving highlights of the report the commissions Vice Chairperson Mr.Washington Sati said that 53.34% of all complaints against seventeen institutions with the National Police Service, Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning, Ministry of Interior and Coordination, The Judiciary and the Ministry of Education being the institutions most complained against.
“The Commission also undertook 73 investigations which included both specific and systemic investigations and issued several advisories on key emerging issues that affect democratic values and principles of governance in the public service” said the Vice Chairperson
According to Commissioner Ms Lucy Ndungu the Commission is facing challenges including inadequate legal framework which inhibited enforcement of its decisions and recommendations, financial constraints which led to low public awareness, inadequate decentralization and inadequate human capital and the culture of secrecy, unresponsiveness and impunity in the public sector.
“The Commission recommends the strengthening of the legal framework to ensure that it’s decisions and recommendations are binding to curb impunity, increased budgetary allocation, inclusion of access to information as one of the performance indicators in the PC recruitment by public entities among other” Said Ms Ndungu.
Hon George Murugara who was the chief guest during the launch of the report said that parliament of Kenya where he serves as the chairperson of justice and legal committee in the national assembly will endeavor to capacity build the commission undertake this important duty of hearing complaints from the public.
“Access to information is a constitutional prerequisite for e democracy and its commendable for the commission to give statue report in realization of this right” Said Hon Murugara.
Leave a Reply